Nate's Grandma Car

nathanagnew

Member
:
2003 Mazda Protege5
I've only been on the forum a short while, but I've already got a lot of advice from y'all. Thanks for all the help!








A few months ago I bought my mother-in-law's Protege5 for $1,200 cash with 79k miles. It was garaged its whole life and never saw snow or rain until I bought it. Overall, super solid car with the exception of a few side ripples and a broken side mirror where my soon-to-be-wife decided to drive the car into the garage door.

So far I've replaced the side mirror, which I bought on eBay. Its not painted because I'm CHEAP.

I also replaced two engine mounts (the mount on the left up-top by itself and another under the battery tray). I bought the set of all four, but I haven't had time to replace the other two. That was an eBay purchase but actually ended up with a high-quality part.

I replaced the radio with a sleek buttonless touchscreen. That was substantial cash. I may or may not have rigged the DVD player to work without a parking brake (mostly because the P5 doesn't directly wire into the new style set-ups). That was from Crutchfield, so I paid like $14 for it to come pre-wired so theres no margin for user error.



I replaced the antennae with an O'Reilly's stubby. Easy.

I got nice wetsuit seat covers for the front.



I cracked the headlights open and painted them black. The clear coat on the outside isn't perfect by any stretch, so I need to do that part again.




I also JUST TODAY bought a Mazdaspeed front lip (the electric blue) that will be in the mail on Monday. Its not perfect and will require a bit of help before the bodyshop, but they're hard to find.


I also found ONE (yup just one) headlight delete so I'm going to buy that and get it 3D scanned. After its scanned, I can 3D print a mirror image for the other side.

I also have the one-piece grill (painted black)

OVERALL, its a really solid car. Next I have to do a suspension job and new tires all around. It'll be a good one!
 
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woah man, lemme know how much you can get those deletes for. Might have a buyer right here (;
 
If I can get them scanned and printed, I'll dish out the scans for anybody to use. I think it'll be a good thing for the community to have for free, no need to keep everyone buying things if someone has it.
 
I appriciate that! I have access to a few 3D printers but no CAD blueprint. I've been halfway on the search since I put on my lip but not a fan of the prices
 
Okay, give me the lowdown on that. Can you actually have the Mspeed lip and the fog lights together? Do you just have holes where the deletes should be?
 
Also, do yourself a HUGE favor and get a wiper stalk from an MPV, Escape, or Tribute. It has more variable settings for timing. I got one off eBay for $20. Best mod I've done so far IMO
 
I used to drive a 2009 Escape and sold it for the Protege. Really spur of the moment, I didn't want the P5 going to the carmax auction.

You're 100% right, I need to figure out how to get that done. Any advice or links?
 
I understand that lol I only like fogs on certian cars, and these without the lip is one of them.
Also, I couldn't let one that clean go to auction! You live down south so I assume rust is minimal?
https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/sho...w-To-Install-Mazda6-Wiper-Switch-Into-Protege
This is the post I used, but taking your steering wheel off is NOT necessary. There are 3 Phillip head screws under the steering wheel (be very careful. I stripped 2 of them trying to do it at night. Secret for me was to push very hard up and turn very slowly). Pry apart the cover, be careful though, If I'm not mistaken there's some wires connected in the bottom part. 2 Phillips screws holding in the stalk. and then install in reverse order
 
I understand that lol I only like fogs on certian cars, and these without the lip is one of them.
Also, I couldn't let one that clean go to auction! You live down south so I assume rust is minimal?
https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/sho...w-To-Install-Mazda6-Wiper-Switch-Into-Protege
This is the post I used, but taking your steering wheel off is NOT necessary. There are 3 Phillip head screws under the steering wheel (be very careful. I stripped 2 of them trying to do it at night. Secret for me was to push very hard up and turn very slowly). Pry apart the cover, be careful though, If I'm not mistaken there's some wires connected in the bottom part. 2 Phillips screws holding in the stalk. and then install in reverse order

Seriously the most unexpected (and awesome) modification I've seen so far! Major props your direction.

Not to brag... there's no rust. I've looked inside and out, everything is immaculate. There's a good chance if my wife didn't run this thing through the garage door in high school it would have been the best all-OEM stock P5 currently on the road. I really lucked out on this one.
 
I was so happy once I did mine lol Who knew the lack of wiping options would be so significant?
Lucky find though! Mine has a little rust, which isn't bad for a car that's been in VA its whole life. A few paint issues from the previous owner. But I got it accident-free, 3rd owner at 230k miles and decided 3 weeks later to rear end a lady (cabpatch) Lady pulled out in front of me, road was still damp from a rain storm, traffic abruptly stopped I didn't lol
 
You got a HELL of a deal on that P5 man, good on you!!

Not jacking the thread but I was just curious since we're on the topic; does the intermittent wiper stalk swap render the rear wiper useless? Swapped my rear wiper with a mazda5 one and find myself using it quite a lot in the rain and don't want to lose the use of it if I make that swap.

Also, should paint that rear valence black ;p
 
You got a HELL of a deal on that P5 man, good on you!!

Not jacking the thread but I was just curious since we're on the topic; does the intermittent wiper stalk swap render the rear wiper useless? Swapped my rear wiper with a mazda5 one and find myself using it quite a lot in the rain and don't want to lose the use of it if I make that swap.

If you get one from the SUVs, it keeps the rear wiper functioning
 
If you get one from the SUVs, it keeps the rear wiper functioning

From what I've found, MPV, Escape and '04 tribute stalks are compatible.
But Escape/Tribute stalks apparently render the rear wiper useless, what SUV did you mean?
 
The Escape/Tribute are essentially the same SUV. I just checked and I got mine out of an MPV. I believe they are the exact same stalk through all of the vehicles
I'll send a picture to you
 
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The Escape/Tribute are essentially the same SUV. I just checked and I got mine out of an MPV. I believe they are the exact same stalk through all of the vehicles
I'll send a picture to you

If you find out, definitely let me know and I'll try to get that done within the next few weeks
 
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